Joy Thief: My Observation (John 10:10) by: Dana Lewis

John 10:10, ESV

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”

Satan, our enemy, is a joy thief. He likes to use people, situations we do not know much about, misunderstandings, the past, disappointments which sometimes stem from (false) expectations,feelings of hopelessness, exclusion, rejection and so-called “perfect” images posted in and throughout social media to keep us in a perpetual place of ~JOYLESSNESS~

If he can steal our joy he can get ahold of our hope and distort our desires. He can cause us to believe the lies in front of us which he’s constructed in order to keep us distracted and unwilling to seek TRUTH. Without the supernatural power of the joy of the Lord we turn to a life of faithlessness. We stop believing in the possibility that God can turn things around for us – for our greater good. We begin to slip into the traps of constant comparisons. Telling ourselves that if we were more like… had more of… and if we only were with… then we’d have… and more people would embrace us as…

Once we begin starve our spirit man of its righteous foods in order to feed our souls the (un)spiritual foods which will destroy us from within – out, it’s a downhill spiral from there for us. Everything about our ability to survive and maintain, function and cope becomes a FIGHT.

This was never God’s intent for us.

He (God) is NOT our enemy. Sin, Satan and this flesh are our enemies. When we understand what is draining us of our joy we will know the importance of guarding our joy and our peace – noticing the attacks of the enemy, his strategies and we will get stronger in our decision to refuse to follow him into those traps, again. We become stronger in heart, in mind and in our sight. We will be more intentional about our investments (our time & energy).

Understand –

Everyone gets down from time to time, but we do not have to take up residence there in the low times and areas of our lives. We can choose to vacate those spaces and periods anytime we want. Just like wallowing in our sadness is a decision we make, so is it with taking up God’s promised JOY and walking on in faith until… until something changes – something different happens for us. He gives it to us freely, His abundant joy – & it’s our responsibility to hold on to it – to use it when we face various trials and setbacks. Joy is not situational. Happiness is.

That part!

Joy is much like a surfboard – We can learn to use it to ride out the waves or we can keep it standing pretty as a show piece for others to envy. I’d rather to my board out and ride the biggest waves. 💖

Just to find out how indestructible God has made the joy within using LIFE’S TOUGHEST, HARDEST TEST.

I gotta know for myself.

Let’s go surfin’!! ☺️

Wipeouts only teach us how to ride the waves better – longer, smarter. The waves will always come – stronger, taller, faster, crashing down louder and harder. If they bring us back to shore – let’s jump right back on our boards to swim out – set our feet firmly on our boards using our core to balance us and RIIIIIIIIIIIIDE THE WAVES. Wooohooohooooooooo!!!

The joy of the Lord, the peace which Jesus speaks of in John 14 is much like our core. The more we exercise it the stronger it gets. The more UNBOTHERED we become by life’s hard hits. Troubles will always be there, fam. We can choose right now just how we plan to ride them out when they come crashing down all around us – like the waves of the sea. We choose… We can train hard and conquer the waves and enjoy this life for what it is or we can allow the ocean to take us under – drown us.

Do all that you can to stay afloat, fam. You have the Joy of the Lord right here, right now. Right here, right now. Whether life is going well for you or not, the joy of the Lord is yours to grab hold of and to cling to. God’s joy is our lifesaver. Don’t let go just because things are a bit rough for you, this season.

Let the joy of the Lord be exactly what He sent it to be –

Our STRENGTH.

You got this! 💪🏾😉

GOD TOOLS: TESTED & PROVEN (By: Dana Lewis)

I’m grateful my Gurlz keep me on my knees before Almighty God. I thank God for the fact that every waking moment (in my parenting) I NEED AND RELY SOLELY ON HIM.

I am thankful for the trials and hardships which come with consistently keeping to the course of raising godly young ladies for His glory. I’m thankful for the tears I shed sometimes due to the pain and strain parenting sometimes brings. I’m thankful for the maturing parenting brings. I’m thankful for the growth I must develop – I can’t skip a single step. Parenting is a gift of the Father, the Lord of Host. It’s a real job with benefits. We will either receive good rewards by what we instill in our children – or reap the bad consequences of our poor choices. I will never forget – I was six months pregnant with my first baby and I begrudgingly asked my mother what was the best way to ensure I am a good parent and raise my baby right? (I say ”begrudgingly”, because I was sooooo filled with pride. I did not want my mother to know I feared messing up nor did I want to let on that her parenting of my brother and I was impactful… right. She had done well, despite how I turned out. I knew… Getting her wisdom was going to save us both – my baby & I)

My mother answered so gently, “Be consistent. No matter what… Be and stay consistent. Consistency is KEY! Let your yes be yes and your no be no, because the first time you say something and do not follow-thru, you can forget about it! The rest is history! I mean it! Be consistent!!”

I’ve learned a huge lesson and fact about parenting – Children will keep us consistently ~ON OUR KNEES/FACES BEFORE ALMIGHTY GOD~

Now that my Gurlz are teens – soon to be young (independent) adults I PRAY LIKE I DRINK WATER

~CONSISTENTLY~

I thank God for the humility which has developed in me from the hardships of raising independently thinking/speaking teenaged Gurlz. Listen… I PRAY FOR FORGIVENESS FOR MY POOR CHOICED WORDS, THOUGHTS AND ACTIONS MORE NOW THAN EVER!! In sincere humility, I seek forgiveness of both my Gurlz and readily admit to them my faults and shortcomings. Most importantly, I follow the lead of Holy Spirit – kneeling before the Lord, repenting, confessing, -Itemizing every thing Holy Spirit convicts my heart is/was wrong to say/do. I kneel at the feet of Jesus and speak my truth to Him – exchanging my anger, hurt, and disappointment for His promised peace and His wisdom on how to go and make things right between my children and I. I do my absolute best to get as far away from pride and “fleshiness” and to break sin and Satan’s grip on me – I SPEAK OPENLY, QUICKLY, HONESTLY OF MY MISREPRESENTATION OF THE LORD, OF MY LIFE OF WORSHIP AND MY MISREPRESENTATION OF GOD’S LOVE, FORGIVENESS AND HIS GRACE. I expose my own sinful flesh in order to receive newness of life, thinking, speaking, sounding, walking and living. The Word clearly says, “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” Galatians 5:25 (KJV)

Check this out, too!

Galatians 5:25-26 The Message (MSG)

25-26 “Since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, let us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implications in every detail of our lives. That means we will not compare ourselves with each other as if one of us were better and another worse. We have far more interesting things to do with our lives. Each of us is an original.”

I love the way the MSG Bible Translation just adds that extra UMPH onto it! Yes? Yes!!

It is important to me that my Gurlz don’t just see me as an authority figure in their lives, but ALSO a fellow sister-in-Christ, just as much in need of Savior Jesus, as they are! AND EVEN MORE IN NEED…!!! Glory to God!!!

I am honored God placed in the hearts of every godly parent a knowledge of “self”. Knowledge of self-pride, self-righteousness, and self-worship. Meaning: Thinking we are better than we are – than how God sees us and what He and our children KNOW of us. I am thankful Holy Spirit does not allow godly (God-fearing) parents to get away with JACK. Yeah! Not on His watch!! Giggles…

As looooooooong as we have the responsibility of caring for, protecting, and managing the lives of His precious little children MORE, MUCH, MUCH MORE will be required of US, the parents of these very strong-willed, immature, thinking they know everything, heart crushing, sometimes disrespectful, sometimes sneaky, highly emotional, moody, argumentative, bratty, little confused, naive, wasteful, irresponsible, no-good-hearin’, wannabe grown, babies of the Lord. In many ways – we are them in the eyes of God. Giggles…

I thank God He’s never given up on me.

Nailah, Alaiyah –

For the many, many times I wanted to throw in the towel and just give up, I am THANKFUL God’s mercy said, “NO!! Stay the course, Dana. -It’s YOU, I’m after… YOU I’m growing and changing.”

Mom, thank you for your wise words, “Be consistent. Let your yes be yes and your no be no. No matter what.”

I see now the purpose for receiving the blessing of bearing children –

For God to ~GROW US UP~ #Godtools🛠 #weshallbelikeHim🌈😇🌺🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾

Thank you for reading and sharing in this with me.

Happy Parenting!! 😁😂😂